Geek lord Bruce Campbell has been cast as Republican demigod Ronald Reagan in the upcoming second season of the FX drama Fargo.

/Film reports that Campbell will be joining fellow new cast members Ted Danson, Nick Offerman, and Patrick Wilson in the role of the only president that matters. The new season of the show takes place long before the events of Fargo’s first season, picking up in Sioux Falls, South Dakota circa 1979. At this point in history, the Gipper was no longer making movies with monkeys and was done acting as boss man to Congressional baboons, having declined to run for a third term as governor of California in 1975. FX CEO John Landgraf explains that, in the context of the show, “[Reagan]’s on his first campaign [and he] makes a swing through Fargo. Some of the characters have some interactions with him. And some of his movies are also a part of the show.” Landgraf adds that, “a lot of what [Fargo’s second season] is about is the cultural transformation that was going on at the time.”

Bruce Campbell has a long history with Joel and Ethan Coen, directors of the 1996 film that inspired the FX series, as well as honorary Coen triplet Sam Raimi. The Coens did a script rewrite on Raimi’s Campbell-starring 1985 slapstick comedy Crimewave, and, in addition to a supporting role in the Coen’s 1994 effort The Hudsucker Proxy, Campbell also appears briefly in the original film version of Fargo; he can be seen on the fuzzy television screen in the kidnapper’s cabin. The footage was not shot for the film, and was actually a regional Minnesota soap opera that Campbell had appeared on in his salad days.

Friday, March 20, 2015

Sam Raimi's 2009 film 'Drag Me To Hell' was a return to his horror roots, and it's full of references and techniques used in the original Evil Dead, Evil Dead II, and Army of Darkness. In this video we pick out some of our favorite callbacks used in 'Drag Me To Hell.'

This was a really fun process - I got to create a show open for a pilot. The idea was to film our host in front of a green screen and then composite him into a bunch of infamous B-movies throughout the years. I did all the compositing, graphics and editing for this piece.

Thursday, March 19, 2015

From cutting through contestants to cutting through Deadites with a chainsaw, Bruce Campbell is a man on multiple missions. Last Monday the actor launched his nerd trivia game show Last Fan Standing on the new CONtv streaming network, and now he's packing his bags for New Zealand, where he'll soon begin filming Ash vs. Evil Dead for Starz.

Set to debut late 2015, the 10-episode series gives fans what they've been clamoring for since 1992's Army of Darkness: More of Campbell as Ashley J. "Ash" Williams. Now Campbell, director Sam Raimi and executive producer Rob Tapert are re-teaming to tell the continuing misadventures of S-Mart's most famous employee.

If you prefer your horror with a little camp and even less good taste, then FANGORIA has just the thing! JFR Productions and 2THIRTEEN Productions have released the first full-length trailer for DICK JOHNSON & TOMMYGUN VS. THE CANNIBAL COP: BASED ON A TRUE STORY exclusively to FANGORIA.com!
Written by John Renna and co-directed and co-produced by Renna and Chris Rados, who served as also cinematographer. Renna (DRY BONES) and Sam Qualiana (SNOW SHARK) co-star as two mismatched detectives hot on the trail of the titular cannibal (newcomer James Williams). Debbie Rochon (MODEL HUNGER), Danny Hicks (EVIL DEAD 2) and Timothy Quill (ARMY OF DARKNESS) co-star as other inhabitants of this grimy, madcap world. The film also features an appearance by Pinky Doodle Poodle, the Japanese alternative/punk rock band distributed by Good Charamel Records in Buffalo, NY, where the film was produced.

“I’ve worked on other films with Debbie, and The EVIL DEAD films are my favorite trilogy, so directing her, Danny and Tim was a dream come true,” says Renna. “Danny plays the police captain, who actually goes out into the field with Dick Johnson and Tommygun. Debbie’s character is the glue who holds the precinct house together, but she’s got a few dark secrets; and Tim plays Shabby Sammy, a shady informant who guides our heroes through the underworld. They were all super professional and added so much to their characters. They’re a riot.”

If you are a fan of creatures from 1980s cinema like ALIENS or PREDATOR, than this book is for you! This is a first-person account from creature-creator, Shannon Shea and includes chapters on genre favorites including, EVIL DEAD II, MONSTER SQUAD, and STAR TREK IV. Shannon recounts his experiences starting as a "Monster Kid" growing up in Louisiana, and then venturing out to Hollywood to follow his dream only to find himself on an adventure he never could have imagined.

Sunday, March 15, 2015

Fantasticon is excited to have Horror Writer/Director Scott Spiegel joining us on April 11-12 at the Grand Plaza Hotel and Convention Center in Toledo, Ohio!

Scott Spiegel is perhaps best known for co-writing Evil Dead II with longtime friend and film director Sam Raimi. He also went to the same high school in Michigan with Raimi and Evil Dead actor Bruce Campbell.

In 1999, Scott directed From Dusk Till Dawn: Texas Blood Money, a follow up to the popular film from Robert Rodriguez. Scott also directed the cult classic Intruder in 1989. Scott also formed the production company Raw Nerve with directors Eli Roth and Boaz Yakin. Raw Nerve produced the Hostel series, which Scott executive produced and, eventually, directed a third installment of the series. Currently, Scott is hard at work on his newest projects: Welcome to Purgatory and Wrath. Wrath is being produced by Bloody Bombshell Entertainment and Fatality Films, a company that Scott co-owns with Andrea A. Albin.

Scott will be at Fantasticon Toledo signing autographs and taking photos with fans both Saturday and Sunday.

Friday, March 13, 2015

Horror icon Bruce Campbell, star of Sam Raimi's original "Evil Dead" trilogy, spoke with CBR News about how horror has become mainstream thanks to shows like "The Walking Dead" and that now felt like the right time to revive the franchise. Campbell discusses whether he ever considered turning his back on Ash, the character he made famous, and how fans played a major part in bringing Starz's upcoming "Ash Vs. Evil Dead" series to life.

Bruce Campbell offers an update on ‘Ash Vs Evil Dead’, revealing who else might direct and if any other stars from the franchise will return.

When it comes to the new Starz series Ash Vs. Evil Dead, star Bruce Campbell hasn't been shy about sharing facts with fans. Rather than keep the upcoming show's story a secret, he has given us all a pretty good idea of what we can expect. We'll get Ash living in a trailer home still working as a box boy for S-Mart when the Evil Dead return. He'll go to war against these Deadites with two new sidekicks, played by Ray Santiago and Dana DeLorenzo. And it was just announced this past week that Xena: Warrior Princess star Lucy Lawless will play Ash's advisory, who believes Ash is responsible for the recent rash of Evil outbreaks. But one fact has yet to be revealed. Will this be a crossover with the 2013 Evil Dead remake? According to Bruce Campbell, the answer sounds like a yes.

A while back Bruce Campbell teased a little idea he had for a movie that would be in the same vein as THE EXPENDABLES, only with horror icons. In it, Campbell would team up alongside other horror vets to fight a single threat. The plan was for it to act as a sequel to 2008’s MY NAME IS BRUCE, a film in which he essentially plays himself. The sequel, titled BRUCE VS. FRANKENSTEIN, is an idea Campbell has been kicking around for a long time now, and today we learned that he’s still mulling over the idea.

"Evil Dead" and "Burn Notice" star Bruce Campbell sat down with Jonah Weiland in the CBR Speakeasy to discuss the changing face of Comic-Con and what it's like to run into female fans cosplaying as his characters.

Despite the name, many attendees have criticized Comic-Con International in San Diego in recent years for shifting its focus to movies and television instead of comic books. "Try and find a comic merchant at San Diego," said Campbell, referring to the media take over. "It's all 'Game of Thrones,' it's all TV. 'Burn Notice' was at Comic-Con. What the hell is 'Burn Notice' doing at Comic-Con? ... It should be called the Pop Culture Con now because it really has morphed from that."

According to the veteran actor, there's a very good reason for that, and not because comics are being forced out. "Comics are incredibly mainstream now," said Campbell. "Every major summer movie has some link to a comic book of some kind. Whether you go back to the Stan Lee days or Dark Horse Comics -- that's where all your stories are coming from."

With changes to the types of projects covered at shows, another major shift has been the types of attendees, specifically how women have begun changing face of conventions and how women have started showing up in numbers very similar to men. "[Women] are allowed to say now, 'I'm a female geek,'" said Campbell. You always expect guys to be nerdy for some reason but I meet tons of nerdy chicks -- who are hot, some of them -- they're dressed as Ash. A chick with a bloody ripped shirt as Ash -- I gotta tell you, that's not so bad."

Monday, March 9, 2015

Xena is heading to the world of Deadites. In an interview with genre icon Bruce Campbell about his new game show Last Fan Standing on the ConTV streaming network, the actor revealed Lucy Lawless would be appearing in the Starz show Ash vs. Evil Dead.

After speaking with Lawless just yesterday about her recurring role on season two of WGN America's Salem, I asked the erstwhile warrior princess if she had anything to pass along to Campbell in today's talk. She jokingly said to warn him not to "screw up" or "ruin her franchise."

When I brought that warning up to Campbell, this was his response:

"Dear Ms. Lawless: Hit your marks, say your lines, or you're fired."

He then dropped the news that "she's going to be on the show."

"We just added her to our cast, and I got to tell you, I couldn't be happier. Some actors you work with and you know that you're going to fail the chemistry test. There are some that you know you won't fail it. She's great; I worked with her a lot in the Xena days, and it's great to have her on Ash vs. Evil Dead."

While he didn't reveal too much about her role on the series, Campbell said Lawless is very good at "playing extreme characters," and that's what she'll be doing on AvED as well.

When asked if he's at all worried about Lawless stealing a bit of the spotlight from him, Campbell said, "She is pretty good at stealing the spotlight, isn't she?"

"She is a beautiful woman who is very talented. I expect her to hog every one of our scenes, and I'll let her because she's Lucy Lawless; we want her to be happy on the show, and we have a very good part for her."

Saturday, March 7, 2015

WTFLOL, the team that created the Marvel Zombies vs Army of Darkness fan film, will continue the adventures of Ash with their sequel, Ash vs the DC Dead. Filming will begin in May with a release in July.

Editor's Note: This Mediabook is not the same as the "Wood Edition" EDN posted on February 26, 2015 (Click Here). There will be a grand total of 3,000 Army of Darkness `Book Of The Dead Edition´ produced: 1,500 Mediabooks and 1,500 Wood Editions. The Mediabook will be padded and covered with leather foil.

Bruce Campbell aficionados have been waiting for an update on when the Army of Darkness icon would be making his debut as a television game-show host ever since CONtv announced Last Fan Standing a month ago. And now Esquire can exclusively reveal that the wait will end on March 9, and even has a teaser clip to help get you through the next ten days.